US fertility expert Panayiotis Zavos last week claimed (yet again) to have implanted cloned embryos into women in an attempt to produce a cloned child. 

 

There was loads of chatter about this on news sites and blogs worldwide.  But we have been here before – kooks to con artists claiming that they have cloned a human being only to be revealed as charlatans.  But Zavos is trying it for real, as far as we can tell, albeit unsuccessfully, so far.

 

At the moment there appears an overwhelming public abhorrence to human reproductive cloning.  But one thing that has been shown in nearly all cloning stories is that there appears to be a good supply of people willing to have themselves or, in the case of one couple, their deceased child cloned.

 

So is there anything wrong with cloning a human being.  We do it with animals on a regular basis, why not humans as well?

 

Society has accepted IVF and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis  which allows us to create and select out embryos free of genetic diseases/disorders. In some countries you can select the sex of your child and potentially in the future other appealing characteristics. Some proponents argue reproductive cloning it is just an extension of these assisted reproductive techniques.

 

We accept identical twins, which are effectively clones. 

 

OK, I personally don’t think we should or need to clone humans , but who am I to dictate what a person can or can’t do assuming they aren’t harming anyone else and they are consenting adults who have been fully informed about the process. 

 

So what are the issues?

Based on comments in news stories, editorials and blog postings some of the rejection of human cloning is because of the technical difficulties in creating a healthy clone.  At the moment, even in animals, it can take the creation of hundreds of embryos to get one clone born healthy. The others die at various stages or soon after birth because of deformities.

  

But what if we could perfect the technique and ensure that the chances of producing a healthy human clone were as good as or better than trying to produce a child by natural means?

 

Would this make cloning acceptable?  Why or why not?

 

Leaving aside the extreme arguments against cloning such as the possibility of creating an army of cloned super warriors or Hitlers, there are loads of religious, cultural and social reasons why people consider cloning wrong.  These include

 

Destruction of human dignity, loss of individuality

The Universal Declaration on Human Genome and Human Rights (UNESCO 1997) is one of a number of documents that state that reproductive cloning is contrary to human dignity. This is based on a number of considerations.  For example, cloning risks turning human beings into manufactured objects and that it could further the attitude that people exist to serve purposes set by other people.

 

Psychological trauma/harm to the clone.

Knowing you are a clone, a genetic copy of another person could cause psychological harm.  How would you feel knowing that you were a clone of your dead brother or sister?

 

What if someone cloned you without your permission?

 

For further details see the links below

 

Given the technical issues of cloning will doubtless be overcome, though probably not for decades, human reproductive cloning, I suggest, is inevitable.  Someone somewhere will do it and there will be a queue of people lining up for their service.

 

But just because we can (or will) perfect human cloning, should we do it?

If we do, what restrictions do we put on it, if any?  Who should or should not be allowed access to reproductive cloning technology?  Should everyone be allowed access, that is, equity of access?

 

 

Resources

www.biotechnologyonline.gov.au

 

WHO

http://www.who.int/ethics/topics/cloning/en/

 

Human Genome Project

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml

Tags: biotechnology, cloning, DNA, medical and health

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